Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
Year End Review of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
3.74 lakh people have been enrolled, 3.36 lakh trained, 2.23 assessed, and 1.65 lakh certified under PMKVY 3.0
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0 
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship  has launched the third phase of its flagship scheme—Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0  in January 2021. PMKVY 3.0 will encourage and promote skill development throughout the country to address the industry needs, meet the market demands, impart skills in services and in new-age job roles that have become crucial in the post- pandemic era.
The Prime Objectives of PMKVY 3.0 are:
- Create an ecosystem for the youth to make informed choices on the available skilling avenues.
- Provide support to youth for skill training and certification.
- Promote sustainable Skill Centres for greater participation of private sector.
- Benefit 8 lakh youth across the country.
So far under PMKVY 3.0, 3.74 lakh people have been enrolled, 3.36 lakh trained, 2.23 assessed, and 1.65 lakh certified.
Customized Crash Course Programme for COVID Warriors under PMKVY 3.0
The Programme aims to meet the upsurge in demand of skilled healthcare professionals and associated professionals from logistics sector, reduce the burden of existing healthcare professionals and provide timely healthcare services in every corner of the country.The programme comprises of following three components, to be implemented under Centrally Sponsored Centrally Managed  component of PMKVY.
-
- Component 1: Fresh Skilling  of candidates in 6  healthcare sector job roles. The training duration will be of approximately 21 days of theory-based classroom training followed by approximately 90 days of On-the-Job Training  in healthcare facilities such as Primary Health Centres, hospitals, diagnostic facilities, sample collection centres, etc.
- Component 2: Upskilling for candidates with prior experience / prior learning under Recognition of Prior Learning . The training under this component will be of approximately one-week duration as a bridge course on original 6 job roles.
- Component 3: Training of drivers in handling and transportation of the Liquid Medical Oxygen . The training duration will be approximately of 27 days. The special training of HMV license-holder drivers in transportation of Hazardous Chemicals as well as LMO, along with focus on ‘defensive driving’ while transporting LMO will be conducted.
The Programme was launched on 18th June 2021 by the Hon’ble Prime Minister with the commencement of training in 111 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras  and other affiliated Training Centres  in 100 Districts of 26 States.
Progress Update of COVID Warrior Trainings :
|
|
Training Type
|
|
States
|
|
Enrolled
|
|
Fresh Skilling 
|
|
33
|
|
1,14,031
|
|
Upskilling 
|
|
22
|
|
10,253
|
|
Grand Total
|
|
33
|
|
1,24,284
Special Projects under PMKVY 3.0
MSDE under its flagship scheme PMKVY 3.0 has launched the following projects namely:
- Upskilling for Weavers and Artisans in Traditional Crafts in Nagaland and Kashmir- The upskilling of Weavers and Artisans on traditional crafts of Nagaland and Jammu & Kashmir, a RPL  project under PMKVY 3.0 is being implemented with value addition services such as Entrepreneurship Building and design development .
- Special project on revival of Heritage Namda Craft in Jammu & Kashmir- The project aims to address skills development needs in the Craft of Namda that is practiced mainly in Kashmir, with a reasonable scale  to deliver real, visible and holistic benefits.
- Upskilling for Street Food Vendors  in East Delhi Municipal Corporation- RPL for 2500 street food vendors who apply for e-cart license to upskill them and make them well versed in hygiene, safety, customer centricity, digital transactions, and entrepreneurship skills.
- Launch of RPL project in Nagaland: Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; and Ministry of Electronics and IT, digitally launched a pilot project on 28.12.2021 for upskilling the cane and bamboo artisans of Nagaland under Recognition of Prior Learning , component of PMKVY. The objective of this initiative is to upskill the local weavers and artisans to enhance their productivity through RPL assessment and certification in traditional handicrafts. The project targets to upskill over 4,000 craftsmen and artisans.
Implementation of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0 for ITIs
Under the phase 3 of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, the Directorate General Training was allocated a target of training 20,000 Candidates via its ITIs. The registration of all ITIs and mobilized trainees was done under the NIMI portal. Post the directives from MSDE, the ITIs and candidates are to be onboarded to the Skill India Portal. The onboarding process is currently under progress.
Current Status:
|
|
PMKVY3.0-Number Of ITIs or Institutes State Wise Affiliated Information 
|
|
Sl.No.
|
|
State
|
|
Applied
|
|
Approved
|
|
Affiliated
|
|
Total Units
|
|
Enrolled
Candidates
|
|
1
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
|
16
|
|
15
|
|
14
|
|
39
|
|
865
|
|
2
|
|
Arunachal Pradesh
|
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
4
|
|
118
|
|
3
|
|
Assam
|
|
10
|
|
8
|
|
7
|
|
26
|
|
231
|
|
4
|
|
Bihar
|
|
4
|
|
3
|
|
3
|
|
12
|
|
106
|
|
5
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
|
15
|
|
14
|
|
14
|
|
47
|
|
893
|
|
6
|
|
Delhi
|
|
3
|
|
3
|
|
3
|
|
9
|
|
61
|
|
7
|
|
Gujarat
|
|
38
|
|
27
|
|
21
|
|
28
|
|
373
|
|
8
|
|
Haryana
|
|
21
|
|
20
|
|
20
|
|
65
|
|
960
|
|
9
|
|
Himachal Pradesh
|
|
19
|
|
19
|
|
15
|
|
54
|
|
707
|
|
10
|
|
Jammu And Kashmir
|
|
44
|
|
42
|
|
40
|
|
136
|
|
447
|
|
11
|
|
Jharkhand
|
|
3
|
|
2
|
|
2
|
|
7
|
|
5
|
|
12
|
|
Karnataka
|
|
6
|
|
5
|
|
5
|
|
14
|
|
142
|
|
13
|
|
Kerala
|
|
19
|
|
18
|
|
18
|
|
80
|
|
1136
|
|
14
|
|
Madhya Pradesh
|
|
21
|
|
21
|
|
21
|
|
46
|
|
859
|
|
15
|
|
Maharashtra
|
|
76
|
|
76
|
|
73
|
|
296
|
|
5463
|
|
16
|
|
Meghalaya
|
|
3
|
|
2
|
|
2
|
|
6
|
|
30
|
|
17
|
|
Mizoram
|
|
3
|
|
2
|
|
2
|
|
6
|
|
1
|
|
18
|
|
Odisha
|
|
16
|
|
16
|
|
14
|
|
38
|
|
1018
|
|
19
|
|
Punjab
|
|
20
|
|
7
|
|
5
|
|
12
|
|
352
|
|
20
|
|
Rajasthan
|
|
11
|
|
10
|
|
10
|
|
29
|
|
277
|
|
21
|
|
Sikkim
|
|
1
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
22
|
|
Tamil Nadu
|
|
16
|
|
16
|
|
16
|
|
42
|
|
793
|
|
23
|
|
Telangana
|
|
11
|
|
11
|
|
10
|
|
25
|
|
425
|
|
24
|
|
Tripura
|
|
3
|
|
3
|
|
3
|
|
10
|
|
2
|
|
25
|
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
|
30
|
|
29
|
|
23
|
|
75
|
|
1854
|
|
26
|
|
Uttarakhand
|
|
5
|
|
2
|
|
2
|
|
1
|
|
2
|
|
27
|
|
West Bengal
|
|
28
|
|
28
|
|
18
|
|
29
|
|
1051
|
|
Total
|
|
443
|
|
400
|
|
362
|
|
1136
|
|
18171
India Skills
IndiaSkills, the country’s biggest skill competition, is designed to demonstrate the highest standards of skilling and offers a platform to young people to showcase their talent at national and international levels. IndiaSkills Competition is held every two years with the support of state governments and industry. The national competition of IndiaSkills 2021, organised by the National Skill Development Corporation , the nodal agency for skill and entrepreneurship development, working under the guidance of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship , are being held in January 2022.
Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion 
SANKALP is a Centrally sponsored scheme of MSDE, loan assisted by the World Bank. It was launched on 19th January 2018 with an implementation period till March 2023. The current agreement of Government of India with the World Bank is for US$ 250 million . The objectives of SANKALP are to strengthen the short-term skill ecosystem and to address key issues of skilling in the country. These objectives are met through its three key result areas namely  Institutional Strengthening at National, State & District level;  Quality improvement of skill development programmes; and  Inclusion of marginalized population in skill development programmes.
Physical achievement under SANKALP
- Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship  program launched under SANKALP in collaboration with IIM, Bangalore on 8th March 2020. The national scale-up i.e., Phase-II of the fellowship was inaugurated on 25th October 2021 to cover all districts of the country. MSDE has further partnered with 9 Indian Institute of Management  for the same. The selection process for Phase II program has been completed and 652 fellows are currently deployed in 652 districts across the Country .
- Awards for Excellence in District Skill Development Planning  instituted with IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur as evaluation partners for 2021-23. In the 1st year, 223 districts across country have submitted their District Skill Development Plan . In year 2020-21, over 450 districts have participated with their DSDP which are currently being evaluated by these IITs.
- Collaboration with Indira Gandhi National Open University , Kerala, Institute of Local Administration, Dr. Raghunandan Singh Tolia, Uttarakhand Academy of Administration and IGNOU for capacity building/ orientation of district officials on implementation of skill development programs, preparation of District Skill Development Plans  etc.
- An MoU has been signed between MSDE and Ministry of Panchayati Raj  for ‘Skill Development Planning at Gram Panchayat’ on 24th July 2020. As part of the partnership a pilot project for skill assessment and certification through Recognition of Prior Learning  has been completed for two blocks each of Varanasi and Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh. The project covered 254 GPs; a total 6,542 candidates were enrolled out of which 5,439 got certified. Further scale up of the programme is being designed.
- SANKALP has funded development of an IT system namely “Skill India Portal” to capture the data for skilling related activities across the country.
- A pilot programme for Skill training of 3000 women artisans in Golden Grass crafts in Kendrapara, Odisha was initiated 12th July 2020 in collaboration with State Institute for Development of Arts & Crafts , Govt. of Odisha and District Skill Committee  Kendrapara. Till date, 580 women have completed training.
- SANKALP funded the Global Skill Gap study to identify the global gaps in demand and supply of skilled manpower as well as overseas employment opportunities for skilled workers from India.
- Development and dissemination of module for awareness building on safety of women at workplace is initiated in partnership with Management and Entrepreneurship and Professional Skill Council . The project is being implemented in 15 districts across 3 states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab. As part of the project, the desired content has been developed and training for 33 master trainers & 1300 candidates has been completed.
- A unique initiative for improving quality of trainers in Auto sector has been initiated in collaboration with GIZ  and Government of Maharashtra at Aurangabad. Automotive Skill Development Council  has been onboarded as the implementation agency for the project. The project aims to train 75 master trainers. As of date, training for 50 trainers has been completed while for 25 is currently underway.
- MSDE has funded Accelerated Mission for Better Employment & Retention  project aiming towards improved employment and retention of candidates post completion of short-term skill development training program.
- A pilot project on skill training of Sewerage Workers of Punjab on mechanized cleaning has been initiated in partnership Punjab Skill Development Mission ; Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board; and Municipal Corporation of Patiala, Govt. of Punjab.
- Two projects are being undertaken as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav viz. Adarsh Gram Skill Camp  and Student Heritage Ambassador project in collaboration with Sector Skill Councils.
Financial achievement under SANKALP
- The World Bank has till date disbursed/ reimbursed USD 169.46 million  to Government of India under SANKALP.
- MSDE has incurred a total expenditure of Rs 471.29 crore till date under SANKALP that includes expenditure under National and State component.
Achievements Under Directorate General of Training 
Accreditation & Affiliation
- 4000 new seats were created for the session 2021:
- 11 new ITIs were accredited with seating capacity of over 2000.
- Also, 160 ITIs have been Affiliated for short term courses under PMKVY 3.0.
- 2nd, 3rd and 4th meeting of the Standing Committee on Accreditation and Affiliation  were convened on 13th July, 7th September and 26th October, 2021 respectively.
- Norms and guidelines for ‘Renewal of Affiliation’ have been laid down and norms for ‘De-affiliation’ have been upgraded. Requirement of grading norms were relaxed for addition of trades/ units in ITIs.
- Affiliation norms are being revised to improve ITI ecosystem in the country and increase the ease of doing business.
Made training more industry relevant
- More than 1500 MoUs were signed for Dual System Training , and 498 ITIs  with 1682 units have been affiliated .
Efficient and Transparent systems through IT governance
- To increase the efficient and transparent management of ITI ecosystems, Guidelines have been laid down for Online Inspection of ITIs for Accreditation and Affiliation and Online Inspections were carried out. Around 70 ITIs were inspected online since August-September 2021.
- New Online Module has been developed for Online Generation of Affiliation Order. It has reduced the human intervention and increased the transparency of the system
- The admission data transfer has been automated through API data transfer between the State admission portal and NCVT Portal.
Bharatskills 
Started in October 2019, Bharatskills is a Central Repository for skills which provides NSQF curriculum, course material, videos, question banks and mock tests for students and trainers. The portal helps trainers and trainees to have easy access to books, practice papers, learning videos which enable them to learn their topics easily, outside a classroom set-up. Links to various other programs for employability skills, advanced new age skills by industry partners- IBM, CISCO, Quest Alliance, Microsoft, NASSCOM, Adobe are being provided on the Bharatskills portal to make the trainees industry ready. Total number of users as 31st December 2021 is 39.7 lakh with 1 crore hits.
Achievements of Apprenticeship Division
Implementation of Skill Hub Initiative for ITIs
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship  is planning for the creation of 5000 Skill Hubs across the education and skill ecosystem to mainstream vocational education by ensuring sharing of infrastructure and developing well-defined pathways for students to continue with their chosen academic-vocational pursuits. The Skill Hub Initiative shall be housed under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana  3.0 scheme. The 1000 selected ITIs  included representation from 36 States/ UTs and had a coverage of 612 districts.
Other achievements:
- Strive Result Area 4 selected 24 Industry cluster in Scale up phase under Industrial Apprenticeship Initiative.
- Around 9.20 Crores as first instalment to all the ICs have been allocated
- Around Rs 61.79 Crores of NAPS funds were allocated to 22 RDSDEs in which Rs 43.253 Crores have been spent for promotion of Apprenticeship scheme.
- Conducted nationwide Apprenticeship Mela in October month in which around 60k apprentices were engaged in single week of October.
- Conducted All India Trade test 111 session in collaboration with Wipro and IBM. Around 1.25 candidates appeared in exam.
- Major apprenticeship reforms were done in BTP, NAPS Guidelines, Examination, and portal procedures. Three back-to-back OMs were issued regarding the same.
- First time in the history of Apprenticeship training around 4.9 Lakhs apprentice are undergoing and completed apprenticeship training till the month of December of current FY.
SIGNIFICANT INITIATIVES UNDERTAKEN BY NIESBUD
- In January 2021 - December 2021, 591 programmes were conducted by NIESBUD across different programme categories focused on areas of stimulation, support, and sustenance of entrepreneurship development. A total number of 20937 participants attended these programmes.
- NIESBUD is implementing the pilot project on entrepreneurship development under PM-YUVA scheme in 10 states, and 2 Union Territories .
- NIESBUD is implementing the Pilot Project on Entrepreneurship Development in the Holy Cities of Varanasi, Haridwar and Pandharpur. The primary objective of the proposed project is to catalyse the entrepreneurial activities of the temple town through resumption of existing livelihood activities and/or by supporting existing enterprise to scale up and to tap the potential entrepreneurs, mentoring them to identify, set up enterprises and management of the enterprises. A total number of 147 programmes have been organised by the LIAs in respective locations which have been attended by 4769 participants as on date.
- The institute is organising variety of training programmes for promoting entrepreneurship among different target groups comprising migrants, tribal, women’s, marginalised population covering SC, ST, OBC, Transgenders, and Tourism and Hospitality Sector Graduates.
- The institute has received Excellence Award from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the year 2021 for its initiatives focusing on providing right skills and knowledge to the trainees from marginalized population of the society in order to drive them towards sustainable livelihoods opportunities and making them self-reliant.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF STRIVE PROJECT
STRIVE project was approved by CCEA in November 2017. The Operations Manual for STRIVE was approved in the second National Steering Committee of STRIVE on 3rd Jan 2019. Key achievements of the project during period January 2021 to December 2021 are as follows:
- 127 additional Government ITIs were selected across the states for improvement in quality and relevance of training programs.
- The female enrolment in 426 project ITIs had increased to 20.5 percent from baseline figure of 9.7 percent.
- About 29.1 percent of the total enrolled candidates have undergone On the Job Training .
- 15 States & UTs have reduced trainer vacancies in government ITIs by more than 20 percent and 5 States/UTs have maintained zero trainer vacancy in government ITIs in their respective states compared to baseline data as on 3rd January 2019.
- A pilot of tracer study tools was conducted in the state of Haryana. A detailed toolkit comprising of draft terms of reference, guidance note, questionnaire and pilot tracer study report has been shared with all states for carrying out full scale tracer studies in the states. Various capacity building sessions have been organized to guide states on conducting the tracer studies.
- Procurement process for engaging agencies for creation of blended learning content for select CITS trades has been initiated and will get over by January 2022.
- 22 additional Industry Clusters  were selected to improve and broaden apprenticeship training by encouraging small and medium enterprises . More than 400 apprentices have registered for trainings under these ICs.
- More than 100 capacity building workshops/review meetings with States/ITIs/ICs were conducted.
- DGT, MSDE released more than INR 75 crores to implementing agencies i.e., States, project ITIs and project ICs.
- DGT, MSDE has successfully achieved Disbursement linked results  of more than USD 40 million. These DLRs have been verified by Independent Verification Agency  for further release of allocated amount by the World Bank.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP PROMOTION SCHEME
The Government of India launched the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme  in August 2016, to promote the apprenticeship programme in India by introducing a package of financial incentive to establishments engaging apprentices. This package is specially intended to support and promote apprenticeship in the MSME segment for enhancing its productivity and competitiveness as well capacity building.
The financial benefit has two components:
- Reimbursement of 25% of prescribed stipend, subject to a maximum of INR 1,500 per month per apprentice
- Reimbursement for cost of basic training, up to INR 7,500 per apprentice for a maximum period of 3 months/500hours.
Apprenticeship - Optional Trade at a glance
Since FY 18-19, a total of 4,94,358 Apprentices have been engaged in Optional Trades with 9,831 active establishments i.e., establishments having engaged at least 1 apprentice.
- Total Apprentices engagement for FY 2021-22  stands at 2.23 lakhs.
- Top 5 Sectors engaging Apprentices are as – Retail, Automotive, Electronics, IT-ITeS, and BFSI.
- Top 5 States engaging Apprentices are- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Haryana.
INITIATIVES UNDERTAKEN BY JAN SHIKSHAN SANSTHAN
- MSDE introduced transparent system for selection of NGOs for establishing 83 new JSSs in aspirational, left-wing extremism , UTs/Islands, NER/Hilly regions border districts, etc. MSDE has launched 75 new JSSs on World Skill Day on 15th July 2021.
- Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and National Institute of Open Schooling  had entered a Memorandum of Understanding on the occasion of 6th World Youth Skill Day on 15th July 2021 for implementing Open Basic Education Programme through Jan Shikshan Sansthans. OBE offers equivalency programmes at level A, B and C equivalent to class III, V and VIII of the formal schools.
- Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship  has developed a grading framework to grade the JSSs. The objective of grading exercise is to provide “Star Rating” to JSSs based on their performance against prescribed parameters.
- A 5-day Management Development Programme was organized by DJSS, MSDE in collaboration with IIM, Shillong for the officers and staff of JSS of NE Region States from March 10-14, 2021, at Guwahati.
- Four orientation programmes to equip Resource Persons of JSSs of NE Region States with entrepreneurial skills was conducted through Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, Guwahati from January 2021 to March 2021 so that they could in turn motivate and provide entrepreneurial skills to the beneficiaries.
- MSDE participated in the first ever National Toy Fair under the aegis of Ministry of Textile was organized from February 27 to March 2, 2021. The exhibition was organized on the virtual platform of the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts . In this virtual toy fair, soft toys made by 74 JSSs were showcased.
- JSSs organized Swachhata Pakhwada activities from July 16-31, 2021 in which local community leaders and masses actively participated. These activities were attended by 1.36 lakh persons across the country.
- JSSs conducted Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav  activities in their operational areas. The major activities conducted are: Fit India Freedom Run 2.0, Online National Anthem, 75th Anniversary India’s Independence Programme, Rozgar Mela, Legal Literacy Programme, Lecture on Financial Literacy, Participation in Rangoli Competitions under AKAM them “Indian culture, freedom struggle and heroes, etc.”
ACHIEVEMENTS I.R.O. CFI SECTION, DGT
- Amrut Mahotsav - India@75 is being celebrated in all the 33 NSTIs by organizing morning assembly with a lecture on important events in a year starting from 1947 every Monday for 75 weeks
- Five Women Micro Entrepreneurs nominated by the Division have been honored by the Honorable Minister  during the celebration of International Women’s Day held on 8th March 2021
- For ensuring Uniformity of Lesson & Demo Plans, Division has put efforts through NSTI trainers to upload the same on Bharat Skills Portal for easy online access to trainers and trainees across the CFIs.
- Launching of 04 courses under CITS by Hon’ble Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship on Vishwakarma Day.
- Master Trainers were awarded with Kaushalacharya Awards
- 1,17,160 masks were prepared/stitched and distributed to the frontline workers and lower income group/poor people by NSTIs & RDSDEs
- Hostel Rooms of NSTIs were kept ready to be used as isolation centres
- Online classes conducted through NIMI portal, Zoom portal, You tube for CTS & CITS. IBM NASSCOM conducting Microsoft Certification classes. A total of 16767 online classes were conducted during the said period
- NSTI Mumbai has designed, fabricated and installed a sensor-based hand sanitization & hand wash machine at Chunabhatti Police Station, Mumbai
- 141 PPE kits were prepared by NSTI, Vadodara
- Junior Consultants were appointed in various field institutes against the vacant posts of Training Officers.
- Coordinated with States for Regional India Skill Competitions
- During 2020-2021, 9053 trainees trained under CITS.
Initiatives of Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, Guwahati
Oil Jeevika
It is the flagship livelihood initiative of Oil India Limited . Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, Guwahati has been entrusted with the assignment for implementing it. It is a community cluster based sustainable rural livelihood promotion project, aimed at enhancing the livelihood of 400 villagers across 5 villages of Diyun under Changlang and Namsai District of Arunachal Pradesh. Under this project, the brand ‘Harbest’- Best of Harvest was successfully launched.
Skill Development Training on Lifestyle Accessories and Products
The programme was conducted under the sponsorship of “Indian OIL Corporation, Guwahati Refinery”, for a period of 2 months. 30 women trainees were trained on various skills like papier mache, crochet, candle making and decorative bottle making. Additionally, inputs on basic skills of entrepreneurship, financial aspects etc. were also given to the trainees. Post the training, an exhibition was held on the day of valedictory and the selected trainees were selected for handholding and mentoring support.
Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana  Assam
It is a flagship programme launched by the honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri. Narendra Modi on 14th April 2018 to improve the livelihood opportunities of Tribal communities from forest covers of India. The scheme is with the mission to increase income generation activities among tribal communities who primarily depends on the Minor Forest produces  for livelihood. For Assam, Indian Institute of entrepreneurship  has been selected as Resource agency to take forward the implementation of this Scheme.
In the state of Assam, the scheme has established each definite presence in 24 districts having 128 Van Dhan Vikas Kendra Clusters each comprising of 300 beneficiaries. The functional VDVKC’s around the state comprise of approximately 37000 women tribal beneficiaries which is a staggering 97% of the total beneficiaries registered.
Initiatives of National Council for Vocational Education and Training 
Qualifications Related
A total of ten meetings of National Skills Qualification Committee ,under NCVET, were held till 30th December, 2021, wherein a total of 819 Qualifications were aligned to the National Skills Qualification Framework  and were approved by the NSQC. The same have been uploaded on National Qualifications Register . 
A number of steps have been taken for simplification of NSQF alignment process:
- Time taken for NSQF alignmentof Qualification has been reduced from 6+ months to only about 2 months.
- NSQC is now regularly being held every month  to further speed-up the process.
- Provision is also in place for approval of urgent qualifications for emergency needs ‘on file’ which is subsequently ratified in the NSQC.
- A simplified template for easy development and online submission of Qualification/ NOSs by AB/ DSCs/ for a category of qualifications/ School Boards has been prepared to ensure quick and easy approval while maintaining basic standards of Quality.
- Revision and rationalization drive of existing qualifications has been initiated by NCVET wherein technology element and electives have been included to make the qualification relevant as per industry requirements and concurrently remove duplicity and overlap of similar qualifications in the skill ecosystem.
- All Awarding Bodies have been advised to include micro and nano entrepreneurship modules in all qualifications and to include modules on financial and digital literacy, wherever relevant.
Recognition Related
Twenty-four meetings of the Sub-Committee representing the Council were held for evaluating the proposals received from organizations seeking recognition as an Awarding Body, whereina total of 41 proposals  were considered.
143 proposals of Assessment Agencies have been scrutinized and those eligible are ready for consideration by the Sub-Committee.
Development of Unified Credit Framework
Four meetings of the High-Level Committee for formulation of Unified Credit framework under the Chairmanship of Chairperson, NCVET, were held on 26th November, 03rd December, 16th December, 2021, and 7th January 2022 to achieve consensus on various parameters for further progress towards a unified credit framework. So far, consensus have been achieved for determining total notional learning hours in a year, total credits to be assigned in a year, levels to be assigned to school education & Higher including Technical Education. The Committee is in process of finalizing the multiplication factor for calculation of unified credits across academic and vocational stream before the framework is finalized.
National Skill Certificate Repository
An MoU has been signed between NCVET & Digilocker on 16th July, 2021, to digitally store and maintain a repository of skill certificates for better accountability and transparency. Subsequently, all Awarding Bodies have been mandated to register themselves on Digilocker.34 Awarding Bodies have already registered on Digilocker.
Adoption Guidelines
The Guidelines for adoption of NSQF aligned Qualifications by various recognized Awarding Bodies have been finalized after stakeholder consultations. They have been approved by the Council and are in process of being notified.
Further, the guidelines for adoption of National Occupational Standards  were also finalized in the Council meeting but are being further deliberated upon.
Multi-Skilling and Cross-Sectoral Qualifications
A Committee has been constituted for development of Multi-Skilling and Cross-Sectoral Qualifications. The draft Guidelines and SOPs have been prepared which are being finalized in consultation with stakeholders.
Future Skills
A Committee has been constituted to facilitate the identification of Future Skills and Jobs requirements. The concept paper on Industry 4.0 has been prepared and is in the process of being finalized in consultation with the stakeholders.
Blended Learning and Assessment
The draft guidelines for blended learning and assessment, as part of NSQF process have been prepared.
Promoting use of Indian Languages in VET domain
The Awarding Bodies/Submitting Bodies have been instructed to take the following actions forpromotion of use of Indian Languages in VET domain:
- To develop the qualifications in English and Hindi languages
- To ensure availability of Qualifications and related curricula in Hindi and other Indian Languages of the states, as per applicability
Academic Equivalence
To facilitate integration of vocational education with main stream education, five webinars were held with various stakeholders including Dept of School Education, CBSE, PSSCIVE-Bhopal, School Principals, SSC and industry partners to facilitate the understanding of NSQF alignment process and help identification of sector specific Qualifications for schools.
Other major initiatives
- Identification and Standardization of Common Pool of NOSs has been initiated: The identification of first set of common NOSs has been done. The process for their development has been initiated.
- Guidelines for Skill Universities
- iii. Guidelines for Training of Trainers& Training of Assessors
- iv. Rating and Grading mechanism of recognized entities
- Up-gradation of NCVET website and NQR portal.
- vi. International recognition of NCVET certificates has been initiated.